science

When I look at recent politics in the USA, it has become so polarized by factions on both sides. Most vocal would be the far right who have taken control of the GOP. Forcing moderates out of the picture.
This makes compromise almost impossible. And without change it’s only going to stagnate our farce of a democracy. The Democrats have never been very good at selling what they offer. Don’t take credit when they do good things.
There there is so much corporate influence I’m beginning to question whether any individual’s vote really counts any more.
I believe that this is about to change. As the individuals selling fear to the crowd has just about run its course. Those trying to make the USA a Theocracy won’t succeed.
The religion of Jesus was about forgiveness not hate. The church’s of two thousand years ago can’t keep up with a changing world.
I am very critical of the catholic church, that puts its own welfare above a abused child.
I’m critical of Pastors who preach hate as much as Imams preach hate, they are in fact still worshipping the same God; as are the Jews.
The religious divide between bible thumpers in the south & progressives in the west & east coasts is creating almost two Americas.
I was raised with Religion & a respect for science. These two things don’t have to be at odds all the time. Science is not a religion but a process to acquire knowledge. To put down science is to say I don’t believe what I see.
In this divided America it’s only through change and growth that progress is made. I see the lies told by our politicians who have been paid for.
Religious Theocracy isn’t freedom & I’m very much for freedom of choice. And freedom of opportunity.
We see what happens when there is no compromise. Maybe the United States should break up. Let those states who think women shouldn’t have a voice, a vote, form their own theocracy in the south. And let the progressives who believe in freedom and individual choice alone!
This is my opinion, open for discussion, any nasty comments will not be posted!

I have been reading recently allot about this SOPA legislation moving through our political halls, it’s designed to protect American companies from foreign piracy of copyrighted material.

I remember when I worked in retail many years ago people started sharing music as they loaded their music onto their computers, then there were the P2P file sharing programs. People were excited and those who were passionate about their music wanted to share. Of course I understand the music industry and what they feel they lost out to file sharing. I remember enhanced CD’s that you could pop into your computer and play music video’s and read interveiws. I thought at that time it was cool, and I figured that was the way they would go to make the actual CD more interesting then just copying the MP3 from somewhere.

But what the music industry did was plant a virus onto cd’s in the name of preventing copyright infringment. Then they asked ISP’s to tell them who were the people using P2P software. I don’t think they (music industry types), really understood the people they were selling their music to. Instead of spending money and time going after the music enthusiasts, they would have been better spending their time on producing a product that the user would want the physical version and not just the free copy; give the user extra’s!

This became evident when extra’s on the DVD’s became all the rage, the extra content was something that would make the user want a physical copy, not just a MPEG. And last year APPLE (bless them), came in with the iCloud, where a person can have the music they have scanned and by paying a fee, legitimize their collection regardless of where they got it. This is a smart approach to music and any copyrighted material. I thought at that time maybe the Music industry was growing up and would find there was always a better approach. But I was wrong, and once again the industry decided it’s better to have some sort of draconian control over the internet so they can enforce their business policies.

I hear about China and their pirated music and software, while these things are bad and should be dealt with. Many companies do business in China, and the USA is a big consumer of Chinese products. The USA can target the pirates directly through the Chinese government, increase tariffs on chinese goods; in order to have the Chinese government clamp down on piracy. This has occurred and is the correct way to deal with the issue.

I like the internet just the way it is, but we all know it’s not perfect, and there can be changes that will protect the user in the future that are being developed. There are sites I will never visit, haters and evil people do have a page on the net. And as long as it’s not to actually promote violence it’s called freedom of speech and that’s the way it is! I think what scares people about this kind of legislation is it seems so drastic! To have the power to just shut someone down without due process isn’t right in a free country. especially when we are not talking about national security or life or death.

The web is like the early solar system coalescing around the sun, planets forming in the rotating dust. Eventually it will evolve into a system that will I hope be safer to use, and free to enjoy for the continued access to knowledge we can’t do without all of a sudden!

I’m a believer in universal healthcare, for all it’s faults; and no system is perfect. The choice between a waiting list and death is a no brainier.
I recently watched a British series called MI5 regarding a man infected with a airborne virus on the streets of London. They were able to look at CCTV and see people who had come into contact the the carrier and isolate them. True this program is fiction, but there is an element of fact. CCTV produced identification of the July Bombers. It also identified many of the rioters in the recent rioting around England.
I live in Los Angeles, if there was a person walking the streets here with an airborne virus what could the powers do to save us?
Well there isn’t CCTV so identifying who comes into contact with the virus would be problematic. Because its a for profit healthcare system and so many don’t have insurance. A contagious person may not seek professional medical care as its too costly. Exposing more people to the virus before isolation.
So what would or could the authorities do in the event of an outbreak on the streets.
In the beginning I don’t think we would be told anything. Depending how many and where the contaminated showed up, the hospitals would coordinate with the authorities. But without specific data on whom may have been exposed it would be like a apocalypse movie from the 80’s! We would be told to stay home and contact the authorities if we felt sick.
There was a big scare in recent years with SARS, and more recently the H1N1 or Swine flu.
It’s really only a matter of time until something visits from abroad and finds us all unprepared. When it does come how will we treat the sick? Will the ones without insurance get ready access to care, or will we see the military pitching tents in the stadium to isolate the sick. Don’t know about you but that scares the shit out of me. Will the politicians who can’t pass a budget be able to make the right choices. I remember Katrina and I wonder did we really learn???

Today we have this thing called climate change, most scientists believe we have caused change in the climate by pumping tonnes of CO2 and other chemicals into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution. This theory has been tested since the 1970’s, and most people who have studied the subject believe this to be true.

Because we are doing this climate change thing for the first time. There have been arguments and disagreement with what change will occur and how quickly. I personally believe with some climate scientists that the climate may be changing faster than the climate models have predicted.

Aside from the obvious changes we have seen in the weather in regions around the Earth, fires in Australia and increased fire season in Los Angeles, drought in Texas. In some countries and pacific islands we are looking at the disappearance of habitat; large migrations of people from one part of the planet to another. I was pleased to read recently a leading climate sceptic Professor Richard Muller after an exhaustive study came to the same conclusion, that climate change is real. I am sure at some point in the future most deniers will conclude their wrong; but how long and at what cost?

Also the new technologies that would replace the existing climate polluting hydrocarbons are giving the possibility for cleaner and ultimately cheaper energy. And energy is the future, without energy we are sitting at home with candles or cooking over an open fire.

I believe the climate is changing, this leaves me with a few questions of my own. How will we cope with the migration due to flooding? Why aren’t we taking into account possible changes in climate, and building infrastructure to facilitate future populations? Clean drinking water, water for livestock, what kind of crops yield the most food per acre? How will governments deal with the harsher weather systems and loss of life and property?

Because even the sceptic’s can no longer deny there is a change in weather patterns. The recent attacks seem to be on the data. Just say the scientists are telling climate stories and not climate facts. Like saying the smoke from the house isn’t the color you said it would be, as we watch it burn to the ground.

I sincerely hope that reasonable people come together soon, put the bikering aside and look at the facts. Stop telling the lies that the scientists have some sort of agenda, not too many scientists have solar cell companies, but all too many deniers like the oil business. Don’t invent your own facts and deny the truth. We don’t have much time, I will be fine, but many poorer countries and people who don’t realize how close this all is. They deserve the truth, not stories, not vested interested lies; just the truth!

So my wife asked me today to explain why if there is Global Warming, why doesn’t the world feel hotter?

True the temperature in many parts of the world has seen record high’s recently, but there are still places getting very cold during winter; and the Earth has seen high’s in the past. Would this be the reason some people just don’t believe that global warming is real. We are coming out of the end of an Ice Age, maybe the higher temps are just a consequence of that?

The Earth is a big place, and while we know many things about climate and the processes that affect the weather systems; scientists would admit we don’t have the specifics. We do know the big picture and the types of change that will occur in a warming planet. But because we are doing this warming planet thing for the first time, predicting time lines has been hard. It is starting to look like the earlier predictions were in fact on the optimistic side; change could be quicker than even the scientists thought.

In the earth’s past it has seen very high Carbon levels, and the sea level was both higher and lower than it is today. The Earth was completely frozen at one point, and the south pole was tropical at another period in time. So in the event of global warming causing climate change on the planet, it may be something the earth has seen before and it will get over it!

The difference this time is we (us humans) have been the instigator of climate change due to global warming, and we have changed the makeup of the atmosphere very quickly compared to earth’s history! In the past there have been sharp changes due to volcanic eruptions, burning forests; releasing CO2 in large quantities into the atmosphere. There was devastation and extinction; but again we weren’t here so it didn’t bother us.

So what will I see in my lifetime? Well let me give myself another thirty years on the planet. I will see climate change at first, as the oceans are the trigger for most of the weather on the planet, the rising temperatures will see currents changing and this will have a direct impact on the weather. If the north Atlantic drift bringing warm water up by the west coast of Ireland was to stop flowing; Irelands winter will be much colder! On the coast of California we have already seen warmer summer’s, the fire season is almost all year round now. Hurricanes will be more frequent and have more intensity due to warmer ocean temperatures. Governments are worried at the future cost and damage control.

Ice caps melting giving rise to higher sea levels will change the face of our planet. Bangladesh will no longer exist, Florida will loose much of it’s coastline. The movement of countless millions of people may actually cause wars. This is not a if or a but, just a when! Some western countries are in the habit of leaving hard decisions until the last minute; because we always pull through somehow. This isn’t one of those times because it’s not just one country or even continent; it’s a planet. We can either learn to work together very quickly, believe the science and find answers; or learn to swim!